Greg Olsen Is Passionate About Youth Sports

Greg Olsen speaks on radio row prior to Super Bowl LIX at the Ernest Morial Convention Center on February 06, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images)

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You probably wouldn’t be too surprised to find out that longtime NFL tight end and current TV football commentator Greg Olsen is pretty passionate about youth sports, especially youth football. Or that he’s got kids playing football, and that he’s all-in on the sideline as a coach and big booster of youth sports.

After all, there is now a long list of ex-NFL players who coach or have participated in some major way in the youth gridiron game.

Hall of Fame players like Mike Singletary, Deion Sanders, and Kurt Warner have all held some sort of role as a high school coach, while longtime ESPN talking head and Super Bowl-winning quarterback Trent Dilfer has spent the last four years logging an astounding 44-10 record as coach at the Lipscomb Academy in Nashville.

Yet, for Olsen, football passion goes a cut deeper. He’s the co-founder of Youth Inc., a sports podcast that has evolved into a best-in-class platform for content, advice, and gear, serving the youth sports community.

Youth Inc. aims to entertain and educate listeners while keeping them abreast of the latest sports conversations, and also serves as a direct-to-consumer merchandise marketplace.

I spoke to Olsen at the end of July, and he noted that there are numerous opportunities to serve high school and youth sports fans, as well as ample room for youth sports organizations to expand their bases.

“The high school sports space is just one aspect of it all. The scale of youth sports goes far beyond high school sports,” Olsen said during our interview over Zoom. “You can also see countless examples all over the country of former professionals getting involved.”

Olsen points out that at his local Charlotte, North Carolina, middle school alone that his ex-Carolina Panthers teammates Luke Kuechly and Jonathan Stewart are involved, as defensive coordinator and running backs coaches, respectively.

Olsen added: “We also have (longtime NFL quarterback) Todd Blackledge, and my dad, who’s coached high school football for 40 years. And that’s just our middle school. Plus, We had Micheal Barrow,” a 12-year NFL veteran linebacker, “come over to our middle school to help run a practice. On top of that, Brock Huard, one of the top football voices at FOX, just stepped down to go coach his son’s high school football team.

Established by Olsen, longtime Fanatics executive Ryan Baise, and Audacy alum Tim Murphy, Youth Inc. is the first integrated media and commerce platform built for the $40 billion youth sports industry.

With original content featuring top coaches and players across a wide range of sports, Youth Inc. connects the youth sports community through insight and inspiration all in one place. The platform also delivers premium gear and fanwear, as well as custom team apparel from top brands for the unique needs of the youth sports community.

But Olsen thinks coaching youth sports is not just a typical stage of life for former top athletes. He believes that top-quality coaches are growing sports overall from the ground up.

“I think you’re seeing a swell of interest in youth sports. And I think high school coaches are now making a bigger impact on the future of football,” Olsen said. “Some of the best coaches in the sport of football are now going on on Friday nights.”

Related story: Coach Prime aka Deion Sanders—youth financial coach?

With so many of his former colleagues and other NFL greats diving into youth sports, it’s no surprise Olsen is so passionate about the possibilities.

Likewise, Youth Inc.’s CEO Baise wants to he his company not just talk up youth sports through the podcast, but also assist in taking high school and youth sports to the next level.

“We want to have official commerce relationships with as many schools as possible, and use our platform as a vehicle for fundraising for them,” his co-founder, Baise said.

Baise adds that Youth Inc. currently has direct relationships with nearly one hundred high schools, as well as fully functional merchandise shops for over a thousand schools.

He points out, too, that in the United States, there are just over 25,000 high schools with sports programs available to students. And that while “officially licensed merch for high school teams isn’t really a thing,” Baise says there is no shortage of either excitement or demand for youth sports merchandise among local team fans.

Baise adds that Youth Inc. wants school sports to utilize their programs to build stronger, more interactive relationships with fans. “We hope that it grows tremendously over time.”

VIDEO: NFL analyst and ex-pro Greg Olsen interviews Tom Brady

On top of it all, just over a week ago, Olsen and Youth Inc. interviewed Tom Brady. In the August 12 episode, the duo discusses parenting in youth sports, their own rivalry in the NFL, and their real-life friendship.

Brady and Olsen also covered topics about what today’s parents and coaches need to know about youth sports, from mental fitness and recruiting to equipment access.

Olsen called Brady “the best quarterback of all time, perhaps the best football player of all time.” He added that Brady was at the top of Youth Inc.’s longtime “bucket list of guests.”

As the face of Youth Inc., Olsen hosts the company’s flagship podcast and leverages his 14-year NFL career and personal relationships to recruit coaches, athletes, and brand ambassadors. Last summer, Sportico reported that Olsen and his team raised $4.5 million of seed money for Youth Inc.

The three-time Pro Bowl tight end also currently serves as an NFL Analyst for Fox Sports.

Read Frye’s recent interviews with Coach Prime and Barry Sanders.

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